ABSTRACT
Fruit species evaluation in the area of Cauquenes, Chile. IX. Brambles (Rubus sp)

Arturo Lavín A.1
 

At the Cauquenes Experiment Station (INIA), the perfomance of some brambles was evaluated, under drip irrigation, from 1982 to 1988. Dewberry, Logamberry, Thorny Boysenberry and Thornless Boysenberry plants were planted at 2.0 x 0.7 m, conducted in a vertical trellis of 1.5 m height, with wires at every 30 cm, with a crossarm of 60 cm. Pruning was performed leaving canes of .±. 2.0 m that were bend-down in the top wires maintaining approximately 10 canes/m. The soil was kept with a grape pomace mulch and weeds were hand-pulled or killed with localized applications of hormonal herbicides. Irrigation was daily (for 4 to 5 hours), with 4 L/hr emitters located at every meter on the pipe. Phenology, yield, fruit characteristics and nutritionallevels, were controled. Growth was very good and no sanitary problems were detected. Flowering occured among september 22 and october 11, for all cultivars, with slight differences between years and slighter among cultivars. Fruit maturity and harvest occurred between November 25 and January 15, with some variation among years but not among cultivars. Best yields were found in 1986 with 24 and 23 ton/ha, for Loganberry and Dewberry, respectively. The bestyields ofboysenberrieswere of 14 and 11 ton/ha in 1987 with Thorny and Thornless. Fruit qualitywas good and matched the export standards. Fruits showed a good sugar content but high amounts of acids. Flavor was therefore uncommon for the area. The nutritionallevels were adecuate for N and K, low for P. No symptoms of deficiency were observed in the field.

Keywords: brambles, fruits species evaluation, drip irrigation, Cauquenes.
1 Subestación Experimental Cauquenes (NIA), Casilla 165, Maule, Chile.